September 22, 2025 City Council Meeting

Introduction:

Links to the video recording and the council packet are at the bottom of this post. Please note any errors or omissions in the comments. Anything noted in brackets was inserted by Clarkston Sunshine.

Agenda Item #1, Call to Order (video time mark 0:00:12):

Sue Wylie said it’s 7 o’clock, I’m going to call the meeting to order.

Agenda Item #2, Pledge of Allegiance (video time mark 0:00:16):

Wylie said if everybody would please rise, we will say the Pledge of Allegiance.

(Pledge said.)

Wylie said thank you.

Agenda Item #3, Roll Call (video time mark 0:00:43):

Wylie said Item #3 on our agenda is a roll call. (To Angela Guillen, clerk), Wylie said if you would take the roll call, please.

Sue Wylie, Laura Rodgers, Al Avery, Gary Casey, Amanda Forte, Erica Jones, and Ted Quisenberry were present.

Wylie said great, thanks. Everybody’s here.

Agenda Item #4, Approval of Agenda – Motion (video time mark 0:00:56):

Wylie said Item #4 is approval of the agenda, and I need a motion to approve the agenda as it’s in the packet.

Motion by Rodgers; second Jones.

Wylie said is there any discussion or comments from council.

No comments.

Wylie said from the public.

No comments.

Motion to approve the agenda passed by unanimous voice vote.

Wylie said the agenda is approved.

Agenda Item #5, Public Comments (video time mark 0:01:21):

[Though public comments can sometimes irritate the city council, there is value to both the council and the public in hearing them. While they can’t eliminate public comments entirely without violating the Open Meetings Act, your city council has occasionally decided not to acknowledge public comments during a city council meeting unless the person submitting the comments also appears at the meeting (in-person or electronically) to personally read them. In the past, members of the public have been cut off for exceeding the city council’s arbitrary three-minute time limit (it’s arbitrary because no time limits are required by the Open Meetings Act).

If your public comments were submitted to the council but not read, or if you tried to make public comments but your comments were cut short, please email them to clarkstonsunshine@gmail.com and I will include them in my informal meeting summaries either under public comments or under the specific agenda item that you want to speak to.]

Wylie said Item #5 is public comments.

(Wylie read the rules for public comments.)

Wylie said would anybody like to make a public comment.

Wylie recognized Chet Pardee for a comment.

Pardee provided his name and address.

Chet Pardee:

After this past weekend’s Art in the Park, and with next Sunday’s Taste of Clarkston, I can’t help but consider how these yearly events could be contributors to the city revenues. I expect these subjects will be discussed in the October 14^th finance committee meeting.

It’s clear that downtown Clarkston will be undergoing additional changes. These changes are made to ownership of businesses, buildings, and occupants. It looks like Sarah Schneider is becoming the dominant owner of downtown buildings. I’m hopeful that city council, the Planning Commission, the Chamber of Commerce, and Main Street Clarkston can work together in a manner that maximizes the success of these new businesses, which should, in turn, be beneficial to city revenue.

The city has not benefited from the large empty lot on South Main and Waldon, despite prior developers’ interest. Likewise, the building on South Main Street at the corner of Waldon is unused at street level, but some business is apparently going on in the basement. The Planning Commission has a direct understanding of what empty lots are available and how the real opportunities may be developing for additional revenue for the city.

I’m still hopeful that the city’s crosswalks, several almost invisible, can be refreshed prior to winter.

Wylie thanked Pardee.

Wylie said anybody else have public comments.

Wylie recognized Forte for a comment.

Amanda Forte:

I have a few things to talk about. So, last week, we went to Parking Day, Alice and I. The local high schoolers basically make the parking lot on the corner of Main Street and (unintelligible) into a mini park for the day. And you can go up to each parking space, and they’re French or Spanish students, and they talk to you in that language.

So, it was really cute, and Alice got a big kick out of it because every single spot had different things to play with, and the high schoolers are great. So that was a wonderful thing, and then Art in the Park was great, and then I just wanted to say that we’re going to plant the trees not until spring based on availability, so I just wanted to follow up on that. Thank you.

Wylie said anybody else have public comments.

Quisenberry said just one comment to Mr. Pardee. Last meeting and this meeting, you’ve memorialized several suggestions as revenue. I just want to remind you, if you can, to document them all and send them in to Jonathan [Smith, city manager] so that they’re compiled and not just some here, some here, some here. We’ll have a whole list of them. Pardee said thank you.

Wylie said anybody else.

No comments.

Wylie said if it seems like I’m hurrying, I’d kind of like to be out of here by 8:15-ish. Quisenberry said why is that? Wylie said I got a really bad (unintelligible) tonight. (Unintelligible comments from council members.)

Agenda Item #6 – FYI: (video time mark 0:05:03):

Wylie said Item #6 is FYI.

Item #6A – Oktoberfest 2025 (page 3/45 of the council packet; video time mark 0:05:07):

We’ve got in our packet about Oktoberfest. The last, last ever, brouhaha, September 27th. Back lot opens at 6:00, and Oktoberfest 2025, so we’ll see if it’s actually the last one.

Item #6B – Taste of Clarkston (page 4/45 of the council packet; video time mark 0:05:19):

We also have Taste of Clarkston, which was established in 1998. Culinary journey through the community. It is Sunday, September 28, 2025, from 12:00 p.m. to 6 p.m., and it’s a partnership with Clarkston Area Chamber of Commerce, the City of the Village of Clarkston, and Independence Township Parks, Recs, and Senior.

Wylie said anybody have anything else on FYI.

Rodgers said you know, I did have a question about the Taste of Clarkston for our packet. We got green, um, passes to put in our cars for if I have, like, a family member coming, do I need to get that to them, or will they be able to tell the officers? I have a feeling I understand why they’re doing that this year.

Sergeant Ashley said yeah, that’s for the people who live on the streets once everything’s closed. Rodgers said right, that’s, I live on Main Street. Sergeant Ashley said yeah. Rodgers said so, do I have to give those to the people that are coming, that are coming to my house. Sergeant Ashley said I think they only passed out, what, a couple per – Rodgers said one. Sergeant Ashley said one per. Rodgers said yeah. Sergeant Ashley said that was kind of just, that way, if you’re coming and going, the officer doesn’t have to ask every person where they live, that kind of thing. Rodgers said OK. But they’ll let them come if they say, I’m at 58 North Main. Sergeant Ashley said they should. Rodgers said they would. OK.

Wylie said anything else for FYI.

No comments.

Agenda Item #7 – City Manager’s Report (video time mark 0:06:38):

• • September 22, 2025, City Manager Report (page 5/45 of the council packet)

Wylie said Item #7, the city manager’s report. (To Smith), Wylie said do you want to elaborate on it?

Smith said I don’t think there’s anything to elaborate on in the interest of time, so I’ll just move on. I guess I will comment on the very last one.

Smith said Guillen passed out the brochure that was published. This was a first attempt. I mean, is it the greatest? Maybe there’s some improvements that can be made, but it is showing our collaboration, alliance, I guess is the word we’re using, with the City of Ortonville. I think between the two of us, if we can put our resources together to some extent that we can actually see some synergies in business traffic for the two cities.

[City attorney] Gerry Fisher said did you say City of Ortonville. Smith said I should have said village. Fisher said oh, okay. I thought maybe something had happened. Smith said yeah, no, no. No, they’re a village.

Smith said but this was a first step, and we hope to keep it going and just build on what we’ve established so far.

Wylie said I’m impressed with the material that you used. Forte said yeah, me too. Smith said that was all done free of charge. Wylie said that’s great. Smith said so that’s – Fisher said no kidding.

Quisenberry said I happen to know somebody that’s on the government up there who spells the name very similar to me. (Laughter.) [Kenneth Quisenberry, Ted Quisenberry’s brother, is president of the Village of Ortonville council.] (Continuing), Quisenberry said and I was talking to him last week. He was very impressed with the meetings and what they’re doing and very much looking forward to what’s coming down the pipe because he just thought this was a great synergistic move by the two communities. He was happy to be a part of it. Smith said yeah, yeah. They’ve been very enthusiastic, and they said, we’re just kind of on the coattails of Clarkston. I said, no, no, not at all. We are truly equal partners on this. Let’s go in together and see what we can do. We have a lot of similar events that we can build on, not always on the same day, but just in the same kind of general region. Fall is a popular time. Of course, the holidays will be as well. So, we’re looking forward to it.

Fisher said can I ask you a quick question. Smith said yes. Fisher said are the two Chambers of Commerce working together. Smith said actually, they dissolved their Chamber of Commerce. So, the Clarkston Chamber of Commerce is kind of expanding, and then it will be all one. Fisher said oh, good, okay. That’s even better. Smith said to pick up some of the businesses in Ortonville and make it one large chamber. Fisher said sure. Thank you.

Wylie said any questions or comments for Smith regarding city manager’s report.

Quisenberry said regarding the first point [building services request for quote], what do we do now that we haven’t received any. Are we just going to now stay with what we have? Smith said no, I still intend to get some more quotes. We just have to kind of renew our efforts to try to, you know, find the right people. These venues that we’ve used, the BidNet network, the Michigan BidNet, is something that all contractors use. I thought it would be a good way to reach out to inspectors too. Same with the Michigan Municipal League’s classified ads. A lot of people look at that for job opportunities. So, I’m a little disappointed that we haven’t yielded a single result from those two sources, but I just kind of need to redouble my efforts on how to reach. I will say I’m very happy with what Independence Township has done so far. I think they’d be a hard, I’ll say this (unintelligible), I think that they would be a hard package to beat, but that said, we are going to get quotes. Make sure that they’re in the ballpark pricewise. Quisenberry said good.

Wylie said any other questions or comments about city manager’s report.

Okay, we’ve got Item #8, which is the consent agenda.

(To Guillen), Jones said did you, Wylie said did you – Guillen said I just wanted to let everybody know that ballots will be going out this week for the November election. It will be going out on Thursday, 40 days prior to the election. Wylie said OK, I got a postcard today about early election, early voting, I should say. Guillen said (unintelligible) early voting is no longer this election at Bay Court. It’s going to be at Waterford Oaks. Instead of having two early voting locations, because it’s such a small election, there’s going to be one location. Wylie said OK, thank you. Guillen said you’re welcome.

Agenda Item #8 – Consent Agenda (video time mark 0:10:32):

• • 08-25-2025 Final Minutes, Regular City Council Meeting (page 6/45 of the council packet)
  • 09-08-2025 Draft Minutes, Regular City Council Meeting (page 8/45 of the council packet)
  • 09-22-2025 Treasurer’s Report (page 10/45 of the council packet)
  • 09-05-2025 – Revenue and Expenditure Report for the Period Ending 08-31-2025 (page 11/45 of the council packet)
  • Fisher Consulting, July and August invoice (page 21/45 of the council packet)

Wylie said so back now, Item #8, consent agenda. We’ve got the final minutes of the August 25, 2025, regular meeting; draft minutes of the September 8, 2025, meeting; and treasurer’s report for September 22. And I’ll need a motion and a second to accept the consent agenda as it’s presented.

Motion by Quisenberry; second Jones.

Wylie said any questions or comments from anybody on council.

No comments.

Wylie said questions or comments from anybody in the public.

No comments.

Motion to accept the consent agenda passed by unanimous voice vote.

Wylie said the consent agenda is accepted.

Agenda Item #10 [sic], Unfinished Business (video time mark 0:11:51):

Wylie said Item #10 is unfinished business. And we have none.

Agenda Item #11, New Business (video time mark 0: 12:01):

Item number 11 is new business. We’ve got four items.

Item 11A – Motion: Miller Road Traffic Control Alternatives (video time mark 0:12:05):

• • Motion – Miller Road Traffic Control Alternatives (page 24/45 of the council packet)
  • Photos (page 25/45 of the council packet)

Wylie said Item #11A is a motion, Miller Road traffic control alternatives. We have a motion.

(Wylie read the motion.)

Wylie said and we’ll need a motion and a second to install concrete barricades across approximately 75% of Miller Road at Holcomb, leaving space for westbound cars to exit and increase patrols by the Oakland County Sheriff as soon as possible. Before we get into a discussion, let’s have a motion and a second, and then we can make any kind of discussion.

Wylie said and I will move to install concrete barriers or barricades across approximately 75% of Miller Road at Holcomb. Second Jones.

Wylie said and now any discussion or comments from council members.

Jones said I have a question. Casey said go ahead.

Jones said this about the we’ll likely continue until mid- to late November. That’s operating off the assumption that it would still, they would be done by November, correct? Smith said yes. Jones said now, I remember when at an earlier council meeting you had mentioned that they had said that they already had a delay, that they wouldn’t be able to finish by November. So, will, has there been any update on that or will that still continue to persist? Smith said yes, actually, we had an update in this morning’s meeting with MDOT [Michigan Department of Transportation]. The last few weeks of good weather, they’ve made a lot of progress. So, they are currently 82% complete overall. And really, the last 18% is just from M-15 just a little bit north, not quite to the Clarkston rest stop on 75. It’s a fairly short distance. So, I think, and I witnessed it myself coming home from this conference last week, that the vast majority is done, striped, ready to drive on. So, they’ve made some really good strides. And I think in this morning’s meeting, they said, we think we might even be done by Halloween, but let’s just continue to say mid-November. So, they’re in this morning’s meeting, they were very confident they will be done by mid-November, possibly even earlier.

(To Casey), Wylie said you had something to ask or say.

Casey said yeah, I look at the traffic going on to Miller. And there are the two barricades there, which leaves room for a car. And if you put concrete there that covers roughly the same space, I don’t see it’s going to do any good. (To Casey), Smith said well, that’s a good question. And the issue is that people are moving the barricades. Yes, Jimi [Turner, DPW supervisor] and Carson [Danis, DPW laborer] go back and move them back. But people are moving the barricades. So, there are periods of time where the barricades are off to the side. Casey said oh. Smith and it gets much worse. Casey said I haven’t seen that. Smith said and even truck drivers, there was a Meijer delivery truck, not a home delivery, but a big semi, Meijer semi, where the driver was videotaped getting out of his truck, moving the barricades to the side and continuing on his way down Miller. Casey said OK. Smith said so, the idea with the cement barriers, it kind of continues the pattern we’ve been following, is let’s leave it partially open to somewhat balance traffic in the city. But let’s make them cement barriers that somebody can’t get out of their car and move them aside. There’s no way you’re going to move a 2,500-pound cement barrier. So that was the thought behind, let’s transition to cement barriers.

Smith said again, my goal all along has been to try to find a balance. If I close Miller Road entirely, like Bluegrass is, yes, I’ll make some fans of the homeowners on Miller Road. But I’ll make as many enemies as the people that live on Holcomb, Washington, Main Street. It’s just going to push all that much more traffic down there. In some degree, I like the fact that some traffic is going down Miller Road because it kind of balances the load with other roads in the city. So, I’m not suggesting any real change in strategy. I’m just saying, let’s make it cement barriers so they can’t move them. Casey said I understand. Smith said and if Turner’s not down there, he’s working on something else, and we don’t recognize that they’ve been moved, and there’s just car after car after car going through there, I think the cement barriers will help with that.

Rodgers said so, is this 66.6% that we get from all these tickets, will that be enough to hire? Coté said I apologize, 33%. Rodgers said 33% is what we get. Coté said yeah. 66% is what the police people get. Coté said oh, I’m sorry. Rodgers said OK, so that 33%, is that enough to keep somebody there for tickets? Is that what that statement kind of is alluding to, that we’ll get extra coverage because of that? Smith said I talked with Sergeant Ashley today about it. It’s, the challenge here is that I can’t just expect to find an officer willing to come in on his day off just for a two-hour block. That officer’s going to want a bigger block of time to make it worth his while. So how realistic it is, I don’t know. My, just, concern is that people don’t see the officers. They look around, they don’t see anybody, and so they just, I’m going to go for it. And car after car after car is doing that. To the extent that some enforcement is visible by people and communicated on Facebook, that would be a good thing, and it will lessen the load. But I don’t know how realistic it is. Sergeant Ashley, you’re welcome to comment on this. Is it something that we could do? I’m not saying all day, every day. I’m just saying in pockets of time. But if it needs to be more than a two-hour pocket, then is it a four- or six-hour pocket? I don’t know.

Sergeant Ashley said I think we can discuss the times that we would need it the most there. You know, if it’s maybe between 7:00 and 9:00 or something like that. Smith said in the morning. Sergeant Ashley said yeah, in the morning, then maybe we can have an officer from the midnight shift stay over, you know, when we can do that kind of thing. Or somebody could even come in early. We haven’t really discussed any times yet. It’s probably going to be worse more in the morning than it’s going to be at night is what I’m guessing. So, we’re gonna, we’ll talk some more about that, and I can run some numbers for them and see where we’re at.

Wylie said I think Quisenberry has been waiting, I think, right?

Quisenberry said yeah, something just came to my mind. I have some clarification. It says that the city received 66% of citation. Did I just hear you say it was 33%? Smith said yeah, I had them reversed. They get 66%, we get 33%. Quisenberry said oh, OK. Smith said sorry. Quisenberry said OK.

Quisenberry said my other point was, I don’t know that our intent from the time that this started was to create a balance. I thought our intent from the time this happened, we realized Miller Road was just being overly congested, driven on by big trucks, and just being a pain to all the residents there. Our intent from the very beginning was to somehow stifle or prohibit traffic from Holcomb Road turning onto Miller Road and taking Miller all the way down to 15. I thought that was our objective, not to find a balance. And if that’s our objective, then we’ve tried several different things to achieve that objective that have not worked. We haven’t achieved our objective in stopping traffic going there.

Quisenberry said if, paragraph 3 says, if we completely close it, it would certainly add more traffic to Holcomb, Washington, and Main Street, further aggravating the traffic backups. I agree. If we put the concrete barriers there to prohibit people from turning onto it, then it’s going to do the same thing as completely blocking it off. I guess my point I’m trying to make is, I don’t see any difference if our objective is to stop traffic from Holcomb onto Miller Road and paragraph 3 says, well, we don’t really know if we want to close off the road because it’s going to aggravate these. Yet the action we’re proposing today is going to do the same thing. I’m not saying I’m against it, I’m just saying some of this logic to me doesn’t make sense. Each of those, I guess, efforts are going to do the same thing, and that’s going to add more traffic to Holcomb, Washington, and Main Street, which it is what it is. I think that if we say to the residents, we want to do everything we can to help traffic not turn onto Miller Road and use that as a shortcut to M-15, then both of those options are going to do the same thing.

Smith said well, I look at this almost like a faucet. Am I closing the faucet a little bit more to let less water through onto Miller, but not closing it entirely? Again, my goal has been to find this balance. If I close it entirely, it’s going to push everybody, clearly it’s going to push everybody down to Washington. Quisenberry said (to Smith), said but I don’t mean to interrupt you, but I guess I do. If our objective is, and we’re going to post signs on there saying, no through traffic, that means no through traffic. Meaning, some of you can sneak by if you want, but the rest of you can’t. I think that if we allow some to do it, or accept that some will do it, we’re still not achieving our desired goal. Smith said well, some will do it, so it lightens a little bit of the load, but also the other aspect of having one lane open is it allows westbound traffic to continue. I’ve never heard really any complaints about westbound traffic. People coming in from M-15 and going out to Holcomb or onto Park Valley, or wherever their destination is, they can still use that. And that was the other aspect of this consideration, is let’s leave an exit for them to use that, because Bluegrass is closed. Quisenberry said that makes sense. It’s to allow westbound Miller at least access to them from either north or south.

Rodgers said and it’s not big enough for a tractor-trailer. Smtih said no, the goal of these cement barriers is we make enough room for a car, and you know, a foot on either side, but a tractor-trailer having to turn through there isn’t going to try it. I think it would greatly reduce the commercial.

Wylie recognized Avery for a comment.

Avery said yeah, a couple things. You know, as long as it almost means it’s open, right? We’re trying to slow it down, but it’s still open. So, if people are going to come around, I think putting cement barriers on a partially open street is going to make it more dangerous. I see people driving like idiots already down there, trying to go around the signs, and there’s people coming west on Miller. So, you’re really creating a dangerous spot there where the stop sign is. I’ve seen people almost get in accidents over and over again there. I live on Holcomb. Quisenberry lives on Holcomb. We’ve got plenty of traffic. Adding more to it is going to really probably affect more of the folks on north Holcomb than us on south Holcomb, wherever you get ours. So, I don’t feel, the other part is I feel like we’re doing a lot to try to placate the folks on Miller, and I can appreciate their dilemma. But you’ve got, what, we’ve got 10 houses on Miller maybe, and we’ve got 30 houses on Holcomb that are going to be affected? That doesn’t seem fair overall. We’ve got two months to go, and we’ve just to grin and bear it.

Avery said my other suggestion is put a sign up that says, no commercial trucks. And when we see one go down, it’ll be easier for the officers to write them up for tickets then. As it stands right now, it’s kind of like half on, half off. It’s off, or I should say it’s on. Everybody’s driving through. I mean, it’s ridiculous. I walk down there, and there’s just a line of cars. So having signs up does nothing. It seems like we have to either shut it down or just give in to it or make it so commercial trucks can’t go down there. Put a sign up that says they’ll be ticketed. That’s really the biggest concern. You’re kind of saying what I’m trying to stop is the big trucks from going down there. Smtih said primarily, yes. Avery said yeah. So, the cars are going down anyways. So, are we really accomplishing that? And again, I think that putting cement barriers in just makes it more dangerous overall.

Forte said (unintelligible) I would be nervous about the concrete just because there’s less room for them to go. Like I didn’t think about that side. But if two cars are coming, which I’ve seen almost near head-on collisions, and people really trying to go, right. Avery said and the township tried that, right? They tried to kind of go, oh, we’ll just put these signs up, and maybe if people just kept coming. So, they had to put the concrete barriers up. It’s the only way they could stop people from going down there.

Wylie said so how is putting signs up to keep the trucks off. The drivers already know that they are above the weight limit to be on that street. Avery said right. So, we’re going to have increased patrols that can come in the morning when these delivery trucks are coming through most of the time, I guess. I don’t know. I mean, I don’t know if there’s a perfect solution. I get that. But I feel like if we pinch it off altogether, it affects more people versus the limited amount of people on Miller. But if you’re going to make the argument that it’s more dangerous for the people turning left on M-15, I’ll buy that to some extent. But like I said, I think we should – if it’s a safety concern, then we need to close it. We’ve got to make it so nobody can come down and go east on Miller. Not just the trucks, but everybody. Right? Because that’s, you’ve got people turning left, just like they’re still turning left south on M-15 to go onto the ramp and I see it all the time.

Quisenberry said I’m not so sure it’s a safety concern as much as it’s a congestion concern. I don’t know that there is much safety factor by the fact that people are doing what they’re not supposed to do. It’s just congestion and inconvenience to a lot of people. But I think if you put the concrete barriers up there so that any car – especially trucks and cars – that are going to want to turn from northbound Holcomb onto eastbound Miller Road, they’re going to have to be very, very cautious. There’s just room for one car there to do it. And there will be some that will try to sneak through. But I think that goal, or that option, is going to inhibit more people from violating the law. And I don’t, you know what, if they try to squeeze through and scratch their car on the cement barriers, I’m not going to be the one crying.

Avery said well, no, but my point is, number one, it is dangerous down there. I’ve seen people almost head on each other. If you’re going to allow westbound traffic coming this way, and you know people are going to go around that cement barrier, I mean, that’s a recipe for accident for sure. And we have had signs up – yes, they’ve been moving them, but there’s been signs on there saying road closed, and they’re going around it. So, assuming – you just have to assume they’re going to go around it. I don’t care. Unless you block it off (unintelligible), like you did on Bluegrass, you’re going to have people going around the concrete barrier but you’re right, they want to – (Pardee raised his hand, Wylie interrupted Avery) – Wylie said let me go to council first. Anybody else on council have comments?

Wylie recognized Jones for a comment.

Jones said yeah.

Wylie said by the way, Smith’s showing some pictures, which is also in our packets. Smith said it’s clear that somebody actually went across the homeowner’s grass there and burned the tires going out of there. So, people are doing crazy things. Here’s just a picture of where the barricades have been moved. In fact, the other leg of the barricade is still over here. So it’s – anyways, sorry.

(To Jones), Wylie said go ahead.

Jones said yeah, I was just wondering, instead of approving funds or additional funds for a possibility of a patrol, is there any chance of maybe getting, like, an empty patrol car stationed out there, like, you know, as a scare tactic? I know that, you know, like, other places – (interrupting Jones) Sergeant Ashley said well, I can ask. Jones said yeah. Sergeant Ashley said I don’t know how effective those are, but – Jones said based on the way people check their brakes, whenever they see the police reported at the way station, you know, it’s an empty car, it’s – Wylie said is it empty? Jones said most of the time those cars are empty, yeah. Quisenberry said we used to call them FUD cars. Jones said yeah. Quisenberry said and they had a purpose. Jones said yeah. Quisenberry said there was some value to them. Casey said what did you call them? Quisenberry said FUD cars. Casey said uh-huh. I remember seeing one that had a dummy in it. Quisenberry said well, yeah, but that’s just – Casey said on I-75 – Quisenberry said the guy wasn’t very bright, so – (laughter). Quisenberry said I think that there’s times that that has some success. Not all the time, because sometimes people get used to it, but we have to move them around all the time to different spots. Wylie said Sergeant Ashley said you’re going to check into it then. Sergeant Ashley said yeah. Wylie said that’s great. Jones said yeah, again, just an idea. I mean, at this point, like, honestly, like, I feel like we will still be talking about what to do with Miller Road this time next year, even when it is – when it’s not a problem. That’s just how it feels.

Wylie said anybody else on council.

No comments.

Wylie said anybody in the public.

Wylie said (unintelligible) and then Pardee will be next.

Wylie recognized Robb Sims for a comment. Sims provided his address.

Pardee said that’s his lawn. Sims said that is my lawn, by the way. Wylie said OK. Sims said my home office overlooks that corner. It is a dangerous corner. There are people – I’ve seen people want to get out and fight from that corner, even before the barricades were there. So, it’s a – you know, people are coming, rolling through the stop sign, coming southbound. Once they see it’s open, no one’s there. They just roll through. They don’t stop. People come in northbound or come in westbound. Well, some people will be courteous and let people come through. Other people just come right up and make them stop. In fact, I’ve seen a police car do that, too, because they’re not supposed to be there. Their traffic last night was backed all the way up from M-15 all the way to my house. So, there’s plenty of cars there. I’m going to tell you, Holcomb – I mean, Miller is a dangerous road to walk before any of this. It’s making it worse because people are coming through the barricade. Now they think, oh, I’m not supposed to be here. They hurry up to get through, and then they’re speeding to go down the road. And so, you know, I’m cutting grass. You know, I do work, you know, along my yard. I feel like I’m going to get my backside taken off. And there’s people walking their dogs, you know, walking their babies in strollers. It’s not safe to begin with, and we’re making the condition worse. So, I’m going to be giving my view. My view is either enforce whatever we have or do nothing. Take the barricades down, open up the roads, do whatever, because traffic will go wherever it needs to go. If it’s backed up, people come down and turn around or don’t come down. So, if we can’t enforce it, it’s not worth it. And I do have a number. It’s $50 per car that we would put in our pocket, $170 for a ticket. We had 33% of that, roughly $50. So, within an hour, I think they wrote probably 20 in an hour or more. You know, back in July. Sergeant Ashley said oh, we had the big – Sims said in July they had something. A friend from Buttercup did it. It got $170. Sergeant Ashley said yeah, we did 150. Sims said yeah. Sergeant Ashley said and as soon as we left, they kept going down there. Sims said but think about it, 150 times 50. That’s $7,500 in probably, what, four hours? Sergeant Ashley said yeah, but we also had five cars down there. Sims said yeah, but that pays for itself pretty quick. I’m not sure what you’re paying your officers. You know, not $7,500. That $7,500 would be the village’s money, and then two times that, $15,000 for that same period of time would be the county sheriff’s. So, it paid for itself.

Sims said so, my thing is enforce whatever we do. If you’re not going to enforce it on a regular basis, open it back up. I think it’s, again, because it’s a dangerous road to begin with. I’ve talked to Smith about it before. You know, thank goodness we now have the white line that’s there because that created a buffer. Without that, there was no buffer. And the sidewalk is right on the side of the road. There needs to be something done. But that’s a different story, different time. But my recommendation, I would say I would totally support putting the concrete there or making it, changing it to a one-way road. Don’t say it’s closed. Say it’s one-way. That, to me, coming one way westbound would be the way to do it. Wylie said one way westbound? Sims said coming M-15 to Holcomb.

Jones said originally, one of the thoughts we had was putting a sign up that was no left turn off of Miller back at the very, very beginning. But apparently that got – Smith said said off of Miller or off of Holcomb? Rodgers and Casey said said off of Holcomb. Wylie said southbound traffic coming southbound Holcomb can’t turn left. That’s the only thing that makes the matter. Jones said no, I was saying Miller on M-15. Wylie said oh, I’m sure everybody will listen to that. Jones said I know, I’m just saying the things that have been – (interrupting Jones), Sims said so, I would only say that you’d only close or the one way between Glenburnie and Holcomb on Miller. You don’t have to do the whole route. Because once you close that out, that way allows people to get in to, you know, from Miller to Glenburnie up in that area as well. Wylie said OK, thank you.

(To Pardee), Wylie said you’ve had your hand up.

Pardee said I just wanted to say that since our last meeting, they’ve been, they, whatever the nighttime people are and the daytime people are, have, in fact, been disassembling the barrier, one barrier, and moving both the barriers. I support two concrete barriers. And you have lawn damage. And the person on the north side of Miller has got lawn damage because as the car has come from Holcomb to go up east to Miller, there isn’t as much room, and so they’ve got a tire off in, it would be berm, except it’s really nice grass. You can see it in that photo. So, the other thing, we’ll end up talking about this the next meeting too, and I would ask Smith, what do we know about the intended closure of I-75 southbound from M-15? Smith said that does not need a complete rebuild, as some of the other ones do. It just needs to be ground down and topped, mill and fill, we call it. So that would be almost a one-night operation. They could mill it and fill it back up in one night. So that won’t be an extended closure, not like the other ramps that they’re having to completely do rebuild them. Pardee said that’s good news. Smith said so, well, if there was a full closure, I think we would get a lot quieter, but, because everyone would have to go to Sashabaw. But I don’t see that happening.

Wylie said anybody else in the public have comments or questions on this motion.

No comments.

Wylie said anybody else on council.

No comments.

Wylie said let’s make it a roll call instead of – Rodgers said what are we, what are we doing here? Wylie said so, the motion is to install concrete barricades across approximately 75% of Miller Road at Holcomb, leaving space for westbound cars to exit, and increase patrols by the Oakland County Sheriff as soon as possible, and also, I think, when possible, because you guys are shorthanded, I think, now. So that’s what we’re voting on.

Jones said and I’m sorry, I apologize for getting you in the weeds here, but will the funds only be approved if we know we’re going to get the patrols? Quisenberry said um-hmm. Wylie said right. Quisebnerry said because it’s part of the resolution. Wylie said right, right. Jones said OK. All right.

Wylie said OK, so we’re going to do a roll call.

Casey, Forte, Jones, Quisenberry, Rodgers, and Wylie voted yes.

Avery voted no.

Wylie said and the resolution is adopted. Thank you, everybody, and thanks for public help.

Item 11B – Resolution: Assessing Services Proposal with Quote Comparison (video time mark 0:39:57):

• • Resolution – Selection of Assessing Services Proposal (page 27/45 of the council packet)
  • Assessing quote summary (page 28/45 of the council packet)

Wylie said and we are on Item #11B, Resolution – Assessing Services Proposal with Quote Comparison. And I’m going to read the resolution.

(Wylie read the resolution.)

Wylie said and I need somebody to make a resolution and then support it.

Resolution by Avery; second Quisenberry.

Wylie said and now discussion or comments from anybody. Unless, I mean, I assume, Greg [Coté, treasurer] did you talk to these people and you’re happy with that? Coté said yes, I am.

Wylie said OK.

Coté said very quickly, if you don’t mind. Wylie said sure.

Coté said let me just come up here. Thank you, distinguished council, Honorable Gerry Fisher. Wylie said oh, oh, oh. Wow. Coté said everybody received the Excel spreadsheet, right? All right. Let me grab my glasses. I can’t see anymore. Wylie said you’re so busy complimenting people. Coté said no, you get that right. Wylie said flattered. Coté said OK.

Coté said what I was looking at was some key talking point metrics when I met with these folks. I kind of looked at it like a credit proposal that I was going to do in front of the New York executive. So, I looked at Oakland County. We all know that they have reputation, history. They went from 32 communities to 15, and they continue to slide. The FTE [full-time equivalent?] continues to fall and pricing continues to rise. I think we can all agree that it’s something that you just can’t continue here in the city of Clarkston.

Coté said WCA is a company located in Westland, Michigan. They serve 43 municipalities, have approximately 44 employees, 42 years of service. They started in 1982 and received all favorable ratings of the clients I spoke with. Their website indicates a 100% success rating. I’m not sure exactly what that means. I think we can all dig into that.

Coté said I spoke with Albion, the Grosse Pointes, River Rouge, and Inkster. Assessment Administration Services, LLC, doing business as AAS LLC, is a company located in Washington Township. This company was started in 2009 and has about 36 employees. The company serves Macomb, St. Clair County, Washtenaw County, Lapeer County, Oakland County, Lenawee County, Hillsdale County. All contacts that I spoke with spoke very highly of this company.

Coté said Kim Fiegly is a startup company, with Fiegly having 30-plus years of experience. Fiegly grew up in Independence Township and is quite capable of serving this community with her many years of experience and market (unintelligible) knowledge. She currently has two contracts, one with Farmington. Is it Farmington Township? Smith said Farmington Hills or Farmington? I think that was Farmington Hills. Coté said Farmington Hills and Lake Angelus. She is able to provide in-person contact with any resident who would request such a visit. And to me, that was a key selling point. In our community, I think that’s very, very important. If a resident wants to talk to an assessor, Fiegly, being born and raised in this community, indicated that she would come here to the office and sit down and explain the rationales of why they determined this amount. So, I believe Fiegly is more than capable of performing the duties we are requesting. She brings credibility, experience, and the people skills that are required. Lastly, she is a longstanding resident of this community and I like her.

Coté recognized Avery for a comment.

Avery said I have a quick question. Is it just her? Coté said it is. Avery said OK. Do we have some kind of commitment from her that she’s not going to go out and expand and expand and then get shorthanded? I mean, we can’t tell her not to. Coté said no, we can’t, but I don’t think she’d do that. I did speak to her at depth about that. Avery said OK. Coté said and she calls. She says, Fiegly, what are we doing? I have a couple opportunities, but I’m kind of turning them down because I’m hoping to take you on and that would be enough to start out the day. Coté said good question.

Smith said so that’s an indication. She’s looking to govern how many clients she takes on. Coté said yes.

Wylie said being willing to meet people in person, to me, it’s huge. Coté said I think it’s huge. Quisenberry said I do, too. Fisher said and have the same person all the time. Wylie said I’m sorry. Fisher said and have the same person all the time. That helps.

Wylie recognized Quisenberry for a comment.

Quisenberry said I think at the numbers going across, Oakland County’s 25-tax year is $16.61. Coté said yeah, and I apologize. There is an error with Oakland County. We should move those. The totals, the $12,193, should actually fall under the ’25 tax year and then move the ‘27 over and then the ‘28 over. That would be correct. Rodgers said you mean 22, 25, 32, 11? Coté said if you look at the top of the spreadsheet, under Oakland County assessing ’25 tax year, it says $9,100. That should actually be $12,193. Coté said I apologize. Wylie and Rodgers said OK. Coté said I just noticed that, too. And then the $17,596 should fall under the ‘26, and then the $23,224 should fall under the ‘27. Wylie said but the price per parcel is correct for it? Coté said yes, everything else is correct.

Quisenberry said so, the price per parcel for the ’25 tax year for the county isn’t $16, it’s $22.25. Coté said yes, that is correct. Quisenberry said OK. Coté said that’s my fault. Smith said so then in turn, year 3, which is what I was looking at, year 3. It would be $42.38. 42.38 in the county? Coté said yes. Smith said it would be $27.16 at WCA. $22 with Fiegly, $23.68. So Fiegly is, in addition to being the Independence Township assessor for many years, lots of experience, local, she’s also the lowest priced.

Coté said yes, I think all three of these are more than capable of handling our needs. But I think the summing point for me personally was her ability to come and be with our clients.

Avery said would this contract be just a year-by-year deal? Coté said three years. Smith said it’s a three-year contract. Avery said I just want to make sure that she’s able to handle what we’re looking to do. I think she can, but if we’re a year into this, or a year and a half, when we realize that she’s just not giving us what we need, I’d like to have an opt-out on it. Coté said most years of contracts are made to be broken, aren’t they not? Fisher said well, it’s easier to put a 90-day – Avery yeah, termination provision or something like that. Coté said and I have that fear, too. If she can’t fulfill our obligation, I think we have grounds to terminate the contract. Avery said well, if we put language in the contract, that would be helpful. Fisher said yeah. Well, you’re talking about terminate for cause. That should be in there. Avery said yes. Coté said yeah, good. We’ll let you take a look. Smith said we don’t actually have the contract yet. That’s why I said that would be approved at a subsequent meeting. Tonight we were just looking to approve the, or select one of the – Fisher said subject to a contract. Smith said subject to a contract. Fisher said good.

Quisenberry said but what we’ve already done is notified the county, and so that 90-day clock is ticking. Smith said yes, but – Coté said yep. Smith said right. We felt we had to do that and notify the county because otherwise we’d be committed to this first-year number, which is $22 a person. Wylie said OK. Coté said yeah, with three viable options here, we feel pretty secure that we can secure one of them.

Wylie said I know you were real concerned about switching. Coté said I am. Wylie said so, seeing you today, the way you’re reacting and sounding, gives me confidence. Because you were reluctant. Coté said I was, and I expressed my feelings in our finance council meetings, but I’m still saddened by the fact that we have to break the tie with Oakland County because I’ve established some good relationships. I pick up the phone. I speak with these guys one-on-one. They return my calls before 5 o’clock. I’m saddened by just what has occurred over the last six months. Wylie said OK.

Wylie said questions or comments from council members.

No comments.

Wylie said from the public.

No comments.

Wylie said OK, we’ve got a roll call.

Guillen said Jones. Jones said I abstain. Wylie said you can’t abstain. Jones said what. Wylie said no. It’s actually in our charter. Jones said well; then yes.

Jones, Quisenberry, Rodgers, Wylie, Avery, Casey, and Forte voted yes.

Wylie said OK, the resolution is adopted. Thank you.

Wylie thanked Coté.

Item 11C – Resolution: City Hall Door ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act] Automation Proposal (grant) (video time mark 0:50:30):

• • Resolution – City Hall Door ADA Automatic Proposal (page 29/45 of the council packet)
  • 09-22-2025 – Bid Comparison (page 30/45 of the council packet)
  • ADA Infrastructure Grant Guidelines (page 31/45 of the council packet)
  • Solucient proposal (page 33/45 of the council packet)
  • FlyLock proposal, including job photos (page 34/45 of the council packet)
  • Barrier Free Plus, Inc. proposal (page 39/45 of the council packet)

Wylie said and #11C is Resolution – City Hall Door ADA Automation Proposal with a Grant. Wylie said thank you very much. Wylie thanked Guillen. Wylie said and the resolution says, who knew. I said I came in today who knew that automatic doors were so complicated?

(Wylie read the resolution.)

Wylie said I need somebody to resolve and then support this resolution.

Resolution by Rodgers; second Forte.

Wylie said and then discussion or comments from council members.

No comments.

Wylie said anything from the public.

Wylie recognized Pardee for a comment.

Pardee said how do the doors operate if, in fact, they have a power failure. Smith said well, the doors would still be operational. You can still open the doors manually. Any of the doors can be opened manually. Pardee said so, the door will be no more difficult than it currently is right now? Smith said it might be slightly more difficult, but not significantly, no.

Wylie said anybody else from the public have questions or comments.

Wylie said I think it’s wonderful that we got the, that Guillen pursued this grant. I mean, I think we’ve probably all seen people struggling to get in here, so it’s wonderful that we have this.

Wylie said OK, (to Smith), I guess you have something else to add.

Smith said well, just so you know, each door would have a button next to it. Wylie said OK. Smith said they each have their own button. You just push the button and the door will open automatically. Now, if it’s after hours and the doors are locked, there will be this one of the things I liked about Fly Lock that none of the other ones talked about. There is a mechanism that checks to see if the door is locked. Or in the case of the bathrooms, the doors are locked at a certain time at night in the exterior bathroom.

(A man walked out of the room.). Smith said sir. Wylie said I think he’s, he’s in the restroom. Forte said he’s in the restroom. (Unintelligible discussion.) Smith said back to his car. (Coté walked the man back into the room. Smith made an unintelligible comment about the office.) An unidentified woman said I’m sorry. Casey drove his vehicle, to get things out of the vehicle. Wylie said oh, you need Casey right now? The unidentified woman said we shouldn’t interrupt the meeting. Wylie said I thought maybe it was Casey’s birthday or something special. (Casey got up from the council table.)

Smith said said so, to just finish my point is that the Fly Lock has controls in place that knows that the doors are locked, so don’t try to motorize them, burn out the motor, and open the door. (Casey returned to the council table.) Smith said it’s automated. Wylie said plus they have the coolest name.

Wylie said OK, anybody else have questions? I mean, I saw Fly Lock.

Wylie recognized Pardee for a comment.

Pardee said yes. So, the buttons that I’m used to seeing in ADA doors are, like, eight inches square, such that you would hit them with your elbow if you could. Do we need that? Smith said they have pictures. I don’t know if there’s a picture of the actual button in there. Pardee said  but just saying that’s an ADA, it ought to be. Forte said yeah, it’s pretty standard. I’m sure whatever they’re doing is standard.

Wylie said anybody else have public questions or comments.

No comments.

Wylie said then we need a roll call, please.

Wylie, Rodgers, Quisenberry, Jones, Forte, Casey, and Avery voted yes.

Wylie said and thank you. The resolution is adopted.

Item 11D – Resolution: Depot Park Asian Bittersweet Vine Infestation Removal (video time mark 0:56:09):

• • Resolution – Depot Park Asian Bittersweet Vine Infestation Removal (page 42/45 of the council packet)
  • Infestation photos (page 43/45 of the council packet)
  • Quote from Otto Tree Services, LLC (page 44/45 of the council packet)

Wylie said we have Item #11D, Resolution, Depot Park Asian Bittersweet Vine Infestation Removal.

(Wylie read the resolution.)

Wylie said I need somebody to resolve and somebody to support.

Resolution by Forte; second Rodgers.

Forte said I just have one question. So, is this part of the area that Blue Heron would want to put an easement on, the conservation easement? Smith said no, no, Blue Heron is, the easement that they’re looking at is really to consider that the wetlands. This is technically dry land. It’s between M-15 and the Clinton River, and a lot of this is behind the pump house. You know, where the pump house is on M-15. And yeah, it’s crazy out of control. You cannot walk in there. You have to go in there with machinery. You just walk in six inches and a vine is going to be around your foot. You just can’t walk. The only way to go in there is with an aggressive machine that’s chewing its way in and backing out, pulling the vines back out, put them in a truck, and do more. It’s a challenging install. It’s not something that Turner could do, even with rented equipment. But anyway, to answer your question, no, it’s not in the easement proposal, proposed area. Forte said OK.

Wylie said questions or comments from the council.

Avery said yeah, just a quick question. Wylie said go ahead.

Avery said I see where they’re going to cut it down, but are they doing, but it doesn’t seem like it’s going to be planned to kill it. I mean, it’s just going to grow back. Smith said it will grow back, and what, I’ve talked with the Blue Heron folks about how we do this, they say it’s a three-year process. You kill it three years in a row, and it’ll give up, so, effectively. Maybe not 100%, but most of it will. So even when I talked to Blue Heron about this, they said you’ll have to go in and cut it, and eventually it’ll die off. But you’re going to have to go back. Now, my thought, though, is that Turner and Danis, once this is all cleaned out and they can walk in there, they can do the secondary treatments. Avery said OK.

Forte said did they talk to us about any grant funding that we could apply for this. To cover the cost? Smith said oh, you mean Blue Heron? Yeah. No, I did not hear about any. Even though this is an invasive species, and that’s where you’re going with this, I appreciate that. No, there are a ton of grants, not a ton, there are some grants available for buckthorn and phragmites, but this one kind of flies under the radar, just to my amazement, because when you drive along the freeway, you see just miles and miles of phragmites, and nobody’s doing anything about it. But this stuff is just killing things way more than any phragmites would kill. So, if this is going to kill an 80-foot-tall cottonwood tree and other trees in this area, it’ll just completely choke it out. Amazing. Forte said it’s crazy.

Wylie said does the follow-up treatment involve some kind of poison or chemical treatment, or does it just keep going in? Forte said mechanical. Smith said mechanical. Because of the close proximity to the Clinton River, I would not propose a chemical treatment.

Wylie said anybody else have questions or comments.

No comments.

Wylie said anybody in public.

Wylie recognized Pardee for a comment.

Pardee said you know that the first item is that we won’t clean up the woodchips from grinding? That’s the first item on the last page. Smith said so, some of the effort is actually grinding up the vines and the dead trees. They, any dead tree, if there’s a big limb, they’re going to put that through their wood chipper and haul that away. But anything that’s just on the ground as a result of the grinding machine working its way in, they’re not going to rake all that up. It’s just going to decompose. So, I didn’t see any issues with that or any concerns with that. It’s not like it re-roots and starts growing again. Quisenberry said and it’s not just going to be piles. It’s just going to be scattered on the floor. Smith said yeah, like a mulch on the ground. But again, the secondary and tertiary, that’s the right word, is those treatments are going to be key, that we follow up.

Wylie said questions from anybody else or comments from anybody else before we do a roll call.

No comments.

(To Guillen), Wylie said OK, we need a roll call once again, please.

Quisenberry, Rodgers, Wylie, Avery, Casey, Forte, and Jones voted yes.

Wylie said thank you. The resolution is adopted.

Agenda Item #12, Adjourn Meeting (video time mark 1:02:46):

Wylie said and our last item tonight is to adjourn the meeting. I need a motion to adjourn.

Avery said I’ll do that. Wylie said he was already packed. Second Rodgers. Wylie said also almost packed.

Motion to adjourn the meeting began but was interrupted. Quisenberry said I have one quick comment. I’d like to say thank you to Coté for the work that you did on the assessment. Wylie said yes. Quisenberry said I think you did a great job getting several options available to us, and I know that was a contention that we all had, but I thought you did a very good job coming up with a solution. Coté said thank you. Wylie said I agree. Coté said thank you. Wylie said thank you for saying that.

Motion to adjourn the meeting passed by unanimous voice vote.

Wylie said we are adjourned at 8:03 p.m.

Resources:

• • Link to video recording here
  • 09-22-2025 city council packet